Professional Adviser is delighted to announce the launch of the new Working Lunches in partnership with Baillie Gifford and First State Investments. Travelling across the UK to provide valuable market insights for Senior Financial Advisers.

Despite the underperformance of fixed income we discuss in this Spotlight guide why the value proposition of the asset class hasn't gone away. In particular we review how the RLAM management team use existing, proven funds to actively manage consistent monthly income streams and adapt the portfolio to changing interest rate and credit market factors.

Within this guide, you will find some surprising survey results from FE, a selection of adviser opinions and some Architas views too. We hope this guide will provide you with some food for thought on this burning issue.

Balancing technology with a human face

Charles Babbage, Tim Berners-Lee and Bill Gates have all contributed in their inimitable way to ensuring that technology dominates how society interacts, works and conducts business.

Technological advancements feed our appetite for “faster”, “better” and “easier” solutions that will eliminate the need to perform chores – a fact that is particularly true of the specialist mortgage world.

Money Partners Touch, the direct-to-broker arm of specialist lender Money Partners, strongly believes that technology cannot solely cater for all service requirements or the complexities associated with individual borrowing scenarios.

Although much can be achieved via the leading edge technology we employ, our service proposition is not wholly dependent on it. We are committed to maintaining human interaction via customer care teams and sales support because we recognise this is the best combined solution to cater for any introducer who needs tailor made packages – and that is the vast majority.

We are a firm advocate of innovative technology solutions and have invested heavily in transforming the mortgage application process for our introducers by eliminating the labour intensive and menial elements.

Our own revolution came at the end of 2006, when we launched eDecision, setting the pace of our technological commitment. eDecision allows our accredited introducers to obtain instant decisions online while delivering accuracy, ease of use and substantially faster turn around times – essentially we have taken all the hassle out of the application process to make it as paper-free as possible. The endorsement we have received from introducers using the technology demonstrates that eDecision has transformed the application process, reducing the amount of administration management and saving valuable time.

We’ve also packaged a number of online electronic tools into the process which add the ultimate choice in user-friendly options. Tools include real-time AVMs, free credit searches, pre-populated applications and full KFIs produced on each case. There is an ability to obtain an immediate sum-in-principle decision as quickly as required, and a leading e-ID facility that, in 75% of applications, negates the need for further proof of identity. With the added benefit of in-house solicitors, we have streamlined the process to offer access to fast mortgage completions.

It is while accurately assessing a potential borrower’s individual circumstances and application criteria that technology’s limitations are evident. There will always be areas of grey and exceptions to the rule which invariably lead to cases that do not comply – a factor which does not necessarily mean they should be declined.

In these instances when the computer says “No”, our service is designed to offer introducers an alternative other than the sole option of approaching another lender. We recognise that there are numerous instances where only the intuition and experience of a skilled underwriter will suffice.

This is why we operate a dedicated introducer support team that tracks cases in real time via our GLANCE system. Where other competitors’ systems operate a straight decline, ours automatically refers the case to an experienced underwriter for immediate review. There are so many variables and technicalities that could throw a case out, such as simple human error or the interpretation of incorrect criteria, but whatever the reason, our team is there to respond and support at any time.

We trust and embrace our technology but we have proven that by offering the reassurance of dedicated, intuitive and experienced assistance from sources that do not need a power outlet, introducers and their customers receive the ultimate win-win service combination.